1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector holder, in particular, to a connector holder for use when connecting a plurality of connectors that are connected to terminals of wire harnesses routed in a vehicle, and specifically, to a connector holder suitable for use for connecting connectors of wire harnesses routed in a hybrid automobile in which a new wire harness corresponding to a system for an HEV is added to an existing wire harness corresponding to a general-purpose internal combustion engine drive system.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a connector holder for holding a plurality of connectors that are connected to wire harnesses routed in an automobile, the applicant of the present application has proposed a connector holder 100 that is disclosed in JP 2003-257564 A (see FIG. 7). The connector holder 100 includes a bottom wall 100a and a circumferential wall 100b, and has a dish-like shape with an open top and a deep bottom. The connector holder 100 accommodates a plurality of connectors (not shown) that are connected to terminals of wire harnesses, lockingly fixing the plurality of connectors. On the circumferential wall 100b, vehicle body lock portions 101 are provided, which are inserted into and fixed to an opening of the vehicle body.
Since the connector holder 100 of FIG. 7 is open on its connector insertion side, but closed on the opposite side constituting the bottom wall, the connector holder 100 has only a mechanism for accommodating and holding the connectors connected to the wire harnesses. That is, the connector holder 100 is not configured to mate connectors of a pair of wire harnesses to each other that are routed from opposing directions to the connector holder 100, and to hold the mated connectors.
As described above, a conventional connector holder has only a functionality of accommodating and holding a plurality of connectors connected to wire harnesses, and of being mounted on a vehicle body or another fixing material. Therefore, the connectors accommodated in the connector holder are ordinarily joint connectors or the like. That is, the configuration is not such that after a connector holder that accommodates and holds connectors is fixed to a vehicle body, connectors of another wire harness are mated and connected to the connectors accommodated and held in the connector holder. If other connectors are mated and connected to the connectors accommodated and held in the connector holder, there is no other choice but to route the pair of wire harnesses subjected to connector connection from the same direction to the connector holder and to insert the connectors into the connector holder. The conventional connector holder is thus not applicable to connector connection of wire harnesses that are routed from opposing directions. Therefore, the conventional connector holder is not applicable when holding and mating connectors, to each other, of a pair of wire harnesses that are arranged so as to face each other across a through hole bored in a vehicle body panel.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a connector holder capable of connecting a plurality of connectors connected to a wire harness to connectors of another wire harness that is routed from the opposite direction together at a single location.